JUST before 8.20pm here last night, every gymnast inside the Bercy Arena had finished their shifts.
All bar one. The stage was completely clear for the final solo act of the women's team final, every distraction on other apparatus had gone.
The crowd was hushed, waiting for the music to start, all eyes trained on the athlete expected to deliver a formality of a gold medal for the USA.
And with a stunning floor routine, Simone Biles did not just deliver that gold medal, she delivered a message to the watching world.
Biles, after the troubled times at Tokyo 2020 and a long break for the good of her mental health, is not only back... she is back and is as dazzling, brilliant, compelling, ingenious, and as effervescent as she has ever been.
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